Apple has reportedly lost an unreleased iPhone prototype - potentially the iPhone 5 - in a bar for the second time in as many years.

Is a second incident too much of a coincidence to be anything other than an Apple stunt? Australian PR and marketing professionals say stunts like that are not in Apple's DNA and in any case, they weren't necessary for Apple to create buzz about its products.

Citing a source "familiar with the investigation", CNET reports that the unreleased iPhone went missing in late July at the Cava 22 "tequila lounge" in San Francisco's Mission district, sparking a scramble by security to recover the device.

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Apple has not yet acknowledged the development of the iPhone 5 but a string of reports have said it will be unveiled in September or October. It is rumoured to feature a bigger 4-inch edge-to-edge display, better camera and a faster processor.

In a bizarrely similar occurrence, last year an Apple computer engineer missplaced a prototype iPhone 4 in a German beer garden. It was found and sold on to gadget blog Gizmodo for $US5000.

A warrant to search the home of the Gizmodo editor, Jason Chen, was obtained and prosecutors indicated they may charge him, but decided against this. However, the two men accused of selling him the prototype, Brian Hogan and Sage Wallower, are due to appear in court tomorrow.

Apple hasn't confirmed the latest incident but it appears CNET has an inside police source, who told the technology news service that Apple representatives contacted San Francisco police two days after it was stolen saying the device was "priceless" and it was desperate to have it returned.

The phone, which CNET said may have been sold on Craigslist for $200, was traced to a family home but when police and Apple investigators visited the house, a man in his twenties denied he had any knowledge of the device, despite admitting he was at the bar that night.

CNET's source said the man's house was searched, turning up nothing, before Apple investigators offered to pay him for the unit, no questions asked. The man maintained he did not know what they were talking about.

Apple is also trying to retrieve a prototype 3G MacBook laptop, which was sold online a few weeks ago.

In California it is illegal to receive property obtained illegally and also to find lost property and keep it when you know who the owner is likely to be.

The fact that two prototypes have been lost in similar circumstances so close to their respective launches will likely create suspicions that Apple is deliberately losing the phones as a stunt to build up buzz.

But Iain MacDonald, managing director of marketing agency Amnesia Razorfish, said Apple loved the fanfare of the big launch too much to spoil the surprise.

"I'd like to be suspicious but knowing Apple they don't seem to play those games as much as some of the other companies. They'd probably be the last company I'd suspect of doing the dodgy on those sorts of things to be honest," he said.

"Steve Jobs and Tim Cook love doing their big announcements and surprising people. Whilst [losing the prototype] creates hype for them it does take the fanfare off it so I find it hard to believe that's part of a campaign to be honest."

Apple also goes to great lengths to keep its pre-release products secret and even carrier partners are often kept in the dark until the last minute. Product teams are split up into specialist groups and Apple reportedly seeds false information with staff to weed out leakers.

Before the iPad was launched, journalists were able to preview pre-production versions in a windowless office but these were chained to the desk with a steel cable and a lock.

For phones, Apple sends them to carriers for testing inside locked and sealed boxes that can only be opened by a few select staff, The Guardian reported. The prototypes are often housed in cases resembling previous models so they do not appear to be new versions.

In 2009, a Chinese factory worker committed suicide after being interrogated about a lost iPhone prototype. His family was paid about $50,000 in compensation.

Gabriel McDowell, managing director of PR agency Res Publica, said he did not think leaking prototypes as a marketing stunt was "in Apple's DNA".

"It doesn't seem to be the sort of thing that they would need to do. Apple just by behaving normally create enormous interest in a new product anyway," he said.

Anthony Agius, founder of the MacTalk Apple community website, said it was likely a case of a careless employee losing the prototype after getting drunk in a bar.

"Apple has more to lose by a competitor finding a next generation iPhone than what they'd gain from a little bit of publicity raised within nerd circles (who are already salivating for the next iPhone anyways) by a silly publicity stunt," he said.